Leanna Wells

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Oct 24, 2025, 4:50 PM

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Updated

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A Bridgeport nonprofit is helping the homeless population remove barriers by providing them with access to more resources. Recovery Network of Programs (RNP) hosted its annual sleeping bag giveaway on Friday morning. Although the event is labeled as a sleeping bag giveaway, it offered more than that. Free breakfast and housing resources were provided.

Last year's giveaway, the first of its kind for the organization, was held in November. They handed out 100 sleeping bags.

"This was a phenomenal turnout. It blew all of our expectations out of the water and just leads us to believe that next year is going to be even bigger and better," said Brian Morris, director of the Homeless Outreach Support Team.

Brian said there's been an increase in the number of people they're serving. More than 150 sleeping bags were distributed this time around, and the organization plans to order more.

"RNP is just a community provider that really wants to help people get to their own next level, and we'll do anything in our power to help them with that," Morris said.

This year's event featured a new resource for those in need. The Connecticut DMV hosted a mobile on-site station to provide free state IDs for homeless citizens.

A new Connecticut non-driver identification card usually costs $28.

Primary health care providers and recovery resources were also available.

Carolina Grijalba-Rodriguez, the chief of programs at RNP, said they care for the homeless population because they are just as important as anyone else.

"They're part of our community. They're experiencing a crisis. A lot of people have a misunderstanding about people experiencing homelessness. For us, we understand that everybody's in a different place in their life, and it's our duty and responsibility to make them feel part of the community and offer them the resources that they need," she said.

For more information about the services and programs at RNP, visit their website.